Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

general federal common law

Hist. In the period before Erie u. Tompkins (304 U.S. 64, 58 S.Ct. 817 (1938)), the judge-made law developed by federal courts in deciding disputes in diversity cases. ( Since Erie was announced in 1938, a federal court has been bound to apply, as a general matter, the law of the state in which it sits. Thus, although there is a "federal common law," there is no general federal common law applicable to all disputes heard in federal court.2. The body of law based on the English legal system, as distinct from a civil-law system <all states except Louisiana have the common law as their legal system>. Cf. CIVIL LAW (1). 3. General law common to the country as a whole, as opposed to special law that has only local application <the issue is whether the common law trumps our jurisdiction's local rules>. - Also termed jus commune."In its historical origin the term common law (jus commune) was identical in meaning with the term general law . .. . The jus commune was the general law of the land - the lex terrae - as opposed to jus speciale. By a process of historical development, however, the common law has now become, not the entire general law, but only the residue of that law after deducting equity and statute law. It is no longer possible, therefore, to use the expression common law and general law as synonymous." John Salmond, Jurisprudence 97 (Glanville L. Williams ed., 10th ed. 1947).